romney calling half the country victims, in your living room. when that happens it will be posted and cataloged for posterity at our website. the three clips are posted there now if you want to check them out. maddowblog.com. have a great night. politics and policy, mitt romney sharpens his foreign policy attacks as the president prepares to step on to the world stage. celestial stunner. an awesome display of the northern lights. talk about the find of a lifetime an art work found at a thrift store fetches tens of thousands at auction. good morning. i'm lynn berry. this is "first look" on nbc.

and we are going to begin with foreign affairs. president obama will take a brief diplomatic detour from his campaign's front lines to address the simmering crises in iran, syria, and the broader muslim world before the united nations general assembly. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with details. good morning. >> reporter: this is a big deal. not only for the president explaining where the world stands but for him politically. >> but first things first -- we've got an election. >> reporter: on "the view" before speaking to the united nations general assembly. aides say he'll focus on the

recent unrest and death of ambassador christopher stevens. >> these are not human bumps in the road. >> either one or all of them shows a person with a different perspective than the perspective i have. >> reporter: today's u.n. speech will be the president's first international address since violence erupted across the muslim world. >> also so -- >> reporter: in bilateral meetings secretary clinton was told security of their embassy is their duty and must emphasize that nuclear weapons must be kept away. despite warnings from the u.n. he declared israel will be eliminated. the u.s. responded quickly calling that comment disgusting, offensive and outrageous.

lynn? >> tracie, thanks. elsewhere. missouri senate candidate todd akin again says he will stay in the race despite his controversial comment on rape last month. today is the deadline to get a court order to drop out of the race. after last month's interview, he lost most republican campaign money, but now a conservative fund-raising pac is seriously considering whether to come to akin's aid because he may have a legitimate chance to beat claire mccaskill. well, newly release the numbers show the high school class of 2012 had s.a.t. reading scores that hit a four decade low. it focuses on reading, sentence structure and vocabulary. and it's been gradually declining for years. a majority of test takers, 57%, didn't even score high enough to indicate likely success in college. but many experts attribute the

to continue decline to a record number of students taking the test including 1/4 from low income backgrounds. just a reminder for you, be sure to tune in to our coverage off education nation coverage on american schools. it's going on all this week across all the platforms of nbc news. you can get involved in the discussion by visiting educationnation.com. well, now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in new york, they are fast footed thieves, at least they are now. surveillance video shows what police say are five teenagers robbing a sneaker store. at least one of the kids threatened the clerks at grnpoint. in massachusetts it was truck versus truck versus apartment building. witnesses say the driver of a green pickup was speeding when he slammed into the other pickup which was parked with no within inside ramming into the apartments. the driver of the first truck was hospitalized. in san francisco, one amazing sight played host to another. humpback whales made a rare visit near the golden gate bridge.

whale watchers normally have to travel dozens of miles out to sea to catch the migration. but this time the whales were a mere quarter mile outside san francisco. finally in north carolina, never underestimate a trip to the good will. this painting was bought by an unemployed artist for $9.99. she was planning to use it as a canvass for her own paintings of cats, but a friend urged her to do a little research. it turns out, the painting called "vertical diamond" was a keeper. it sold at auction for nearly $35,000. art, it's so subjective. and now for a look at your national weather bill karins is back. >> hi, stranger. >> i forgot what you look like. >> i have a poster on my wall, right next to wham!

>> unfortunately. >> worst out of missouri into central illinois. thunderstorms and a lot of lightning strikes too. we're almost near 6,000 lightning strikes just in the last hour alone. all the little white splashes you see on the map. much has missed interstate 70 but from quincy to springfield and heart of central illinois you have to go through the storms. anyone driving there you have to briefly experience gusty winds and a pretty impressive light show until the sun comes up. clouds will continue to spread. i'd have the umbrella handy from kentucky, indiana, illinois and southern portions of ohio. it'll be cool too. temperatures haven't warmed up all that much. eventually all the clouds and some of that rain will sneak its way into kentucky, ohio, west virginia, pennsylvania and even d.c. to new york. tomorrow, tomorrow afternoon and

evening. forecast for today looks like ray nice day from boston all the way down the east coast. troublesome weather is from illinois through indiana, kentucky and a chance of showers through kansas city. still 93 right around dallas. lynn, it doesn't look like any big i can't rememberup is coming for the great lakes. the leaves are changing. apple picking season and fall is here. >> let's emblaise it. we won't complain about the cold. google finds a new high. and america's surprising salty snack. your first look is straight ahead. coming up a big loss for the jets. you make the call, interception for touchdown. you're watching "first look" on msnbc.

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well, welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. and here are some of your top headlines this morning. the associated press reports an analysis of new satellite

images shows north korea has stopped construction of a new launchpad for tests of intercontinental range rockets. the work may have been delayed by heavy summer rains, but experts say the north has not mastered the technology to shrink a nuclear weapon to fit on a long-range missile. in southern california firefighters found a body in a home destroyed by this wildfire. officials say the elderly man ignored evacuation orders. the u.s. marine corps plans to court-martial two staff targets for urinating on the bodies of taliban fighters last year. three other marines received administrative punishment last month. hospitals around the country are being given a warning not to try to cheat the government through the use of computerized records technology. the justice department and health and human services are focusing on what's called upcoding or raising the severity of a patient's condition to get more money.

and here's a beautiful sight for you. it is peak viewing time for a beautiful sight, the northern lights. these spectacular photographs were taken over the past couple of days in yellowknife, kana. olympia snowe says she will publish a memoir and says the atmosphere in washington is to blame for congressional gridlock. arnold schwarzenegger launches a think tank at the university of southern california. schwarzenegger says bipartisan cooperation is the key to solving the nation's problems and says, "you cannot just do it, my way or the highway." at the clinton global initiative hillary clinton's run for the white house was conversation topic number one according to politico. an official who traveled with her said "no meanings not right

now". "the new york times" reports that right now president obama is a heavy favorite to win re-election. since 1936 of the 19 political candidates who led in the polls at this stage of the race, 18 won the popular vote and 17 also won the electoral college. "the orlando sentinel" reports mike horner ended his re-election campaign after being named as a client in a racketeering and prostitution case. horner said "i deeply regret decisions i made." mitt romney talked about his wife's plane making an emergency loondzing over the weekend saying he didn't know why airplane windows don't open to let fresh air in. he was mocked about the scientific reasons for it. cabin pressurization, extreme cold and oxygen feeding the fire. that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. last night on "the last

word" howard dean talked about mitt romney's recent remarks on health care and how americans can get free care in emergency rooms. a medical doctor, he told lauren owe doesn't his view is the candidate is completely misinformed. >> owe put in universal health insurance in massachusetts and used the same plan president obama used and doesn't appear 0 know what he's talking about. anybody who puts in a plan like this should know you can't go to the emergency room or get either good continuity, preventive care or inexpensive care. i just don't know what to think of this. this is so far -- he doesn't appear to know what he's talking about, the governor who previeded over the farthest reaching universal health care plan in the united states. i don't know what to say. i'm speechless. >> don't miss it on the biggest issues and most xheling stories of the day. it airs weeknights at 10:00 p.m.

only on msnbc, the place for politics. here's your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow closed at 13,558 after falling 20 points yesterday. the s&p was down three. the nasdaq lost 19. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei gained 22 points while in hong kong the hang seng was up 3. well, it was gloomy data out of europe and another corporate caution flag that stalled marketing monday. minutes before the closing bell caterpillar cut its earnings forecasts for 2013 citing weakness in the world economy. sending shares lower in late trading. europe's biggest economy is still struggling dampened investors' moods. germany's confidence index fell for a fifth straight month in september. a critical "barron's" article coupled with unconfirmed reports of a privacy breach dragged facebook down 9%. apple dipped despite selling

5 million iphone 5s last weekend which was more than the iphone 4s but apparently not as many as some expected. on the up side, google notched a new high on an analyst upgrade. ahead of fresh housing data this week home builder lennar posted surprisingly high earnings. some 2$200is being refunded by discover to 3.5 million customers after a federal investigation showed it tricked people to sign up for services like payment protection plans. toys "r" us is hiring 35,000 seasonal people this year. that's up from the 40,000 people it hired. a recall of valencia peanut butter has now spread made at the until until factory. so far only trader joe's peanut butter has been linked to salmonella. an industry trade group predicts a world shortage of pork and bacon next year. it's now unavoidable due to this year's drought. and finally, do you agree

with this, speaking of salty food, a new poll shows ritz crackers are america's new favorite salty snack. lays potato chips are second and doritos are third. i guess it's all who you ask. coming up, the tigers pounce, the yanks extend their lead and a top defensive back is out for the season. plus, this one very controversial call could be the last straw for football's replacement refs. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. r-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. less expensive option than a traditional lawyer? at legalzoom you get personalized services for your family and your business that's 100% guaranteed. so go to legalzoom.com today for personalized, affordable legal protection.

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welcome back. i'm lynn berry. this was a bizarre twist in monday night's matchup between seattle and green bay. it fell in the seahawks' favor. here's fred roggin. good morning. right off the top, you make the call. wrapping up a wild weekend in the nfl. here's the final play of last night's green bay/seattle game. seahawks down 12-7. seattle last chance. if they score a touchdown, they win the game. it appeared the packers' jennings came down with it. the seahawks' golden tate was there and tried to wrestle the ball away. the officials all over it. one signaled touchdown, the other signaled stop the clock. you make the call, interception or touchdown. if you called it an interception, you are wrong. they reviewed it and called it a touchdown. a controversial ending that will

be talked about all week, if not all year. seattle wins a wild one 14-12. in other nfl news, the jets' darrelle revis done for the year. widely regarded the best. he tore the acl in his left knee on sunday. baseball will be a sprint to the finish in the a.l. east. the yankees continue to win. curtis granderson belted his 40th homer of the year. yanks beat the twins 6-3. they won 9 of 12. the pesky orioles aren't going away. look closely. luis ayala made the catch of the game in the bullpen and snagged it with his hand. orioles split a doubleheader in the blue jays a game and a half back of the yapgs. tigers are playing catchup. prince fielder left the yard. tigers win it 6-2. despite the win they couldn't make up any ground on the first place sox. adam dunn only does two things, he strikes out and he hits home runs. last night he did both. two home runs and two strikeouts. white sox held on to beat the indians 5-4. they lead the central by a game.

finally how about a walkoff? the sacks fall for adrian beltre. a quockoff rbi single. the rangers win it 5-4. that's your first look at sports. i'm fred roggin. a u.s. coach is being accused of ordering one of his skaters to tamper with the skates of a canadian rival at a championship event last year. france co-reports. >> reporter: simon cho, a u.s. bronze medalist in court documents says that he tampered with the skates of this man from ach.da under the direction of the canadian skater was skating in last year's world short track championships in poland. >> translator: we had our suspicions but no proof. >> reporter: the broken skate forced him out of a final relay competition. in the documents cho told a

fellow skater it's my darkest secret and i regret it. he briefly coached him before he became an american coach. now an attorney for 13 american short track speed skaters filed to get him dismissed for abuse. he is on administrative leave pending the results. frances kuo, nbc news. >> here's bill karins who before he gives you his weather channel forecast, he is going to give you a speech. >> give people the cliff notes or lynn the cliff notes for that interception. >> that it was an interception. >> at the water cooler people will talk about that. just say definitely interception, packers were robbed. we need the refes ba refs. >> don't trust him. >> there's not much to talk about. nice quiet day out there. many on the east coast do not

need the up brel l.a. dress the kids up warm as you head out the door. nice day, lynn, temperatures in the 70s, chance of showers, pittsburgh late in the day but really only illinois seeing the nasty stuff. >> fill, thanks so much. coming up, singer chris brown dodges a legal bullet. plus, a korean video. you are looking at "first look" on msnbc. jack, you're a little boring. boring. boring. [ jack ] after lauren broke up with me,

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welcome back to "first look." time for entertainment news. singer chris brown was in an l.a. courtroom yesterday for a standard

probation hearing -- see, i told you, but it count up being anything but. brown got lectured by the judge after he tested positive for marijuana use though she said the test was not a condition for probation. >> i'm sure it was second hand. >> now you're defending chris brown. a november hearing has been set to decide whether he violated his probation stemming from the 2009 beating of then girlfriend rihanna on other matters. the judge said community service logs from brown's home state of virginia were somewhat cryptic. all right, we did know this was coming, right? according to guinness world record "gangnam style" is the most liked video ever on youtube. it has over 2.6 million thumbs up. one from lynn berry and easily surpassed lmfao's 1.5. it is the number one style on the itunes chart. >> it makes you happy. >> did you watch it already? you're the only person on the

planet that hasn't seen it yet. did you watch it on break? >> just clips. i need to do the whole thing. >> you were doing it in the control room. it was so weird. >> the dance? >> yes. >> too much energy for me. >> yes, thank you. >> that was the chicken dance. >> stay tuned. "way too early" is next. >> sorry. president obama address the u.n. general assembly after the assassination of the u.s. ambassador in libya and hot hit rick from iran and israel about the prospects for war. the question is how will the president deal with the iran question in his speech here in new york in front of the world? the must watch massachusetts senate race gets more personal with ads up from scott brown and from elizabeth warren about her alleged native american heritage. the question is who has the edge for the last month of this back and forth